Bucket Transfer Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A bucket carrier for carrying buckets ( 2 ) to store them in each storage shelf of a cart ( 4 ), the bucket carrier comprising a holding means ( 20 ) for holding buckets ( 2 ), and carrier means ( 28 ) for carrying the buckets ( 2 ) held by the holding means ( 20 ) to each storage shelf ( 49 ) of the cart ( 4 ). The arrangement is such that the holding means ( 20 ) and a transfer means ( 49 ) are drive-controlled so that the buckets ( 2 ) are stored in the storage shelves ( 49 ) obliquely from above. Thereby, the buckets ( 2 ) can be automatically stored in the cart ( 4 )

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a bucket transfer apparatus.

1. Background Art

When transferring medications from a pharmacy department, medicationsfor one patient are conventionally placed into a bucket and areautomatically transferred to a nurse station using a transfer apparatus(see, for instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-310625).However, since it is ineffective to individually transfer those bucketsfrom the nurse station to respective patient's rooms, a plurality ofbuckets are once stored in a cart whereupon they are collectivelytransferred.

However, it is extremely troublesome to store all the many buckets ontothe cart. Moreover, due to employment of an arrangement of preventingthe stored buckets from falling off during transfer with the cart, thereis a drawback that they are hard to be stored. It has thus been longedfor automatic storage of buckets to carts.

2. Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention thus aims to provide a bucket transfer apparatuscapable of automatically storing buckets into a cart.

As a means for solving the problem, the present invention provides abucket transfer apparatus for transferring buckets and storing them inrespective storage racks of a cart, the device including:

a holding means for holding the buckets, and

a transfer means for transferring the buckets held by the holding meansto the respective storage racks of the cart,

wherein the holding means and the transfer means are driven andcontrolled such that the buckets are stored from obliquely above withrespect to the storage racks.

A conventional storage rack arranged to prevent falling off of bucketsduring transfer was provided with projections on both ends of guidinggrooves of the racks so that it was hard to store the buckets fromdirections parallel to the racks. According to the arrangement of thepresent invention, since buckets are stored from obliquely above, it ispossible to smoothly store the buckets also to such racks.

It is preferable that the holding means includes opening/closing armsfor closing while lifting to hold a bucket from both sides and openingwhile descending to release the bucket, and push-out portions forpushing the bucket held by the opening/closing arms out in a horizontaldirection,

wherein when pushing the bucket out by the push-out portions, a rearwall of the bucket further downward than a brim portion on its rear endside is pushed, and when a front end of the bucket is located above alower edge portion of the storage rack on an intrusion side, theopening/closing arms are opened while descending for moving the bucketdown while releasing the holding condition of the bucket. Thus, it ispossible to smoothly store the bucket into a storage rack of the cartdespite of a simple arrangement.

It is further preferable that the device includes an identification cardattached to an outer surface of the bucket,

a turning means for turning the bucket, and

reading means for reading the identification card of the bucket,

wherein the turning means is driven and controlled so as to allow theidentification card to be read by the reading means, and the bucket istransferred to the cart by the transfer means so that identificationcard is located on the same surface side. Thus, it is possible toreliably and easily read the identification card irrespective of thedirection of the bucket.

It is preferable that the transfer means includes a bucket detectingmeans for detecting presence/absence of a bucket in the storage rack,wherein the transfer means is driven and controlled based on a detectionsignal of the bucket detecting means for transferring the bucket to anempty storage rack.

It is preferable that the cart includes fixing means for fixing thebuckets stored in the storage rack, that the device includes a non-fixedcondition detecting means for detecting a non-fixed condition by thefixing means, and that the bucket is transferred by the transfer meansbased on the detection signal of the non-fixed condition detectingmeans.

According to the present invention, since buckets can be stored fromobliquely above with respect to the storage rack, it is possible toachieve the effect of performing storage operations automatically andsmoothly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the bucket transfer apparatus according to thepresent embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a left-hand side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a side view showing a bucket on its way of being stored intoa cart, and FIG. 4B is a front view of the bucket;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a holding member;

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an identification card; and

FIG. 8A to FIG. 8C are side views showing operations of storing thebucket to the cart in sequential form.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be explained in accordancewith the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a bucket transfer apparatus 1 according to the presentembodiment. This transfer apparatus 1 includes a direction-changingportion 3 for changing directions of buckets 2, and a transfer portion 5for transferring the buckets 2 to a cart 4.

As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the bucket 2 has a box-like shape withan open top, and a brim portion 6 is formed at an aperture edge thereof.Engaging concaves 7 are respectively formed on both side portions atopof the brim portion 6 by providing projections on two spots,respectively. An identification card 8 is attachable/detachable on anend surface of the bucket 2. The identification card 8 may be aleuco-type or thermochromic-type rewritable card capable of beingrewritten upon heating to a specified temperature. The identificationcard 8 bears pieces of patient information as shown in FIG. 7.

The direction-changing portion 3 is connected to a medication supplyingdevice 9 for supplying medications to the bucket 2. In the medicationsupplying device 9, medications prescribed to each patient in accordancewith prescription information are sequentially stored in the buckets 2and are transferred to the direction-changing portion 3.

The direction-changing portion 3 includes a transfer belt 10 and a turntable 11 for changing the direction of the bucket 2. As shown in FIG. 3,the transfer belt 10 is arranged such that belts 14 are respectivelyarranged around pulleys 13 provided at rotating axes 12 at apredetermined distance wherein one of the rotating axes 12 is rotated bydrive of a motor 15. As shown in FIG. 2, the turn table 11 is disposedbetween both belts 14 and is provided in a freely elevating and rotatingmanner. By lifting and turning the bucket 2 transferred by the transferbelt 10, the identification card 8 of the bucket 2 is made to face inthe same direction. A first bucket detecting sensor 16 a and a secondbucket detecting sensor 16 b are provided proximate of the turn table11. The first bucket detecting sensor 16 a is used for detecting that abucket 2 is approaching the turn table 11 and for reducing the transferspeed of the transfer belt 10. The second bucket detecting sensor 16 bis used for detecting that the bucket 2 has been transferred to aturning position upward of the turn table 11 and for terminatingtransfer by the transfer belt 10. A stopper 17 for forcibly terminatingthe bucket 2 at the turning position is provided proximate of the turntable 11 (downstream side of the transfer direction) in a freelyelevating manner.

Card detecting sensors 18 for detecting an identification card 8attached to the bucket 2 are provided laterally of the turn table 11. Inthis embodiment, it is possible to attach the identification card 8 tototal four spots, namely two spots on both end surfaces of the bucket 2,respectively. Therefore, by providing the card detecting sensors 18 ontwo spots and by turning the turn table 11 by 180 degrees in case thebucket 2 cannot be detected, the device is arranged such that theidentification card 8 can be detected regardless of the locationthereof.

A plurality of transfer rollers 100 are provided on a downstream side ofthe stopper 17 so that the bucket 2 can be transferred furtherdownstream side from the turning position. A stopper 101 is provided ina freely elevating manner on the downstream side of the turning positionso that the bucket 2 can be forcibly terminated at a transferpreparation position. A rewrite device 19 is provided laterally of thestopper 101 so that pieces of information written on the identificationcard 8 can be rewritten in accordance with pieces of information writtenon prescriptions in a condition in which the bucket 2 is transferred tothe transfer preparation position (in this embodiment, patientinformation are rewritten).

The transfer portion 5 is provided with a holding member 20 provided tobe freely movable vertically and laterally within a transfer unit. Amagnet sensor 22 for positioning and detecting the cart 4 (which will bediscussed later in details) and a lever detecting sensor 23 fordetecting a rotating position of a lever 57 provided at the cart 4 areprovided on a front surface side of a frame body 21 forming the transferunit.

The transfer unit is provided, on both sides of its rear surface, withguiding axes 24 extending in a vertical direction, belts 25, elevatingrails 26, and guiding guides 27 in this order from the rear surfaceside. Counter weights 24 a are provided along the guiding axes 24 in afreely elevating manner, and elevating members 28 are provided along theelevating rails 26 in a freely elevating manner. The belts 25 areconnected to the guiding axes 24 and the elevating members 28 and aredriven through a motor for elevation (not shown) for elevating theelevating members 28. Cable chains 29 are guided along the guidingguides 28 for protecting electric wires. Supporting arms 31 forperforming reciprocating movements in horizontal directions upon beingdriven by a motor for horizontal movement 30 are provided at theelevating members 28. The holding members 20 are provided at tip ends ofthe supporting arms 31.

The holding members 20 are arranged such that holding pieces 33 areprovided at lower end portions of a pair of opening/closing arms 32 andthe bucket 2 can be held from both sides upon opening and closing thesepieces. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the opening/closing arms 32 performelevating and opening/closing movements upon guiding both sides thereofthrough guiding plates 34. More particularly, guiding rollers 35 areprovided on both side portions of the opening/closing arms 32 arrangedat a specified distance. The guiding plates 34 are provided with guidinggrooves 36 on which the guiding rollers 35 rotate. Each guiding groove36 includes a vertical portion 37 a on an upper side and a slopedportion 37 b on a lower side. When both guide rollers 35 are located atthe vertical portions 37 a, they are at a holding position in which theholding pieces 33 are closest with respect to each other, and with thelower guide rollers 35 moving closer to the sloped portions 37 b, theholding pieces 33 descend to gradually separate from each other. Theopening/closing arms 32 are connected at their upper end portions to asupporting table 38 in a freely rotating manner. The supporting table 38is provided in a freely elevating manner along axis portions 39 erectedat tip ends of the supporting arms 31 at a predetermined distance. Arack 40 is formed on the supporting table 38 and a pinion 42 fixed to arotating axis of a motor 41 for opening/closing movements is in meshtherewith. Accordingly, when the motor 41 for opening/closing movementsis driven, the supporting table 38 is elevated through the pinion 42 andthe rack 40, and with the guiding rollers 35 rolling along the guidegrooves 36, the opening/closing arms perform opening/closing movementswhile performing elevating movements.

As shown in FIG. 2, push-out portion supporting arms 43 a are provideddownward of the supporting arms 31 and push-out members 43 forperforming reciprocating movements in a longitudinal direction areprovided downward of the push-out portion supporting arms 43 a. Thepush-out members 43 are coupled to belts 45 wound around pulleys 44provided on both ends of the push-out portion supporting arms 43 a andperform reciprocating movements in a longitudinal direction uponrotating one of the pulleys 44 through a motor 46 of push-out. Rotationof the pulleys 44 is detected by an encoder 47, and moving positions ofthe push-out members 43 are controlled based on results of detectionthereof. The push-out members 43 move forward up to proximate of endsurfaces of the bucket 2 held by the holding pieces 33 of theopening/closing arms 32, and are capable of supporting the brim portion6 of the bucket 2 at their upper edge portions. The push-out members 43push the bucket 2 out to the cart 4 side. As shown in FIG. 5, thepush-out supporting arms 43 a are provided with bucket. presence/absencedetecting sensors 48 at their tip ends so that presence/absence ofbuckets 2 stored in the cart 4 can be detected by detecting anidentification card 8 attached to the buckets 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cart 4 is a frame-like body including aplurality of storage racks 49 arranged vertically and horizontally,wherein a lower end portion of the cart is provided with casters 50 atfour corners thereof and the cart is freely movable upon gripping a grip51 provided at an upper portion thereof. As shown in FIG. 4A, thestorage racks 49 are arranged such they can support the brim portions 6of the buckets 2 through guiding grooves 52 form on both sides thereof.

Projections 53 are formed on both ends of lower edge portions 52 aforming the guiding grooves 52. By guiding both ends of a brim portion 6of a bucket 2 mounted into the storage rack 49 through the projections53, it is possible to stabilize the mounted condition of the bucket 2 inthe storage rack 49. Relief concaves 54 are formed inside of therespective projections 53.

Projections 55 are respectively formed on both ends of upper edgeportions 52 b forming the guide grooves 52 at positions corresponding tothe relief concaves 54 of the lower edge portions. It is possible tostabilize the holding condition of the bucket 2 in the storage rack 49through the projections 55 and the projections 53. Pressing portions 56capable of performing elevating movements are provided centrally of theupper edge portions 52 b. The pressing portions 56 of the respectivestorage racks 49 are uniformly lifted to an unlocked position through arod 58 upon rotating the lever 57 as shown in FIG. 3, and are descendedto a locked position. At the descended lock position, the pressingportions engage engaging concave portions 7 formed on top centralportions of the brim portions 6 of the buckets 2 mounted on therespective storage racks 49 for holding the buckets 2 to be unmovable.The rotated position of the lever 57, that is, the locked positionfacing vertically downward is detected by the lever detecting sensor 23provided at the transfer portion 5, and the transfer portion 5 isdrivable only when the lever is in the unlocked position.

Next, operations of the bucket transfer apparatus 1 of the abovestructure will be explained.

The cart 4 is moved to dispose the same besides the transfer portion 5.The cart 4 is aspired and positioned by the magnet sensor 22 provided atthe transfer portion 5. When the cart 4 is detected by the magnet sensor22 and when it is detected by the lever detecting sensor 23 that thelever 57 is at the unlocked position, supply of medications to thebuckets 2 is started per units of patients based on pieces ofprescription information sent to the medication supplying device 9.Buckets 2 supplied with medications for one patient are sequentiallytransferred from the medication supplying device 9 to thedirection-changing portion 3.

In the direction-changing portion 3, the stopper 17 is lifted and thetransfer belt 10 is driven. The transfer belt 10 is then reduced inspeed based on a detection signal of the first bucket detecting sensor16 a and upon terminating the transfer belt 10 based on a detectionsignal of the second bucket detecting sensor 16 b, the bucket 2 ispositioned smoothly on the turn table 11. Next, upon lifting the turntable 11 and holding the bucket 2 up, it is turned by 90 degrees fordetecting an identification card 8 attached to the bucket 2 by means ofthe card detecting sensors 18. When no identification card 8 can bedetected, the turn table 11 is turned by 180 degrees. In this manner,when the bucket 2 is turned such that the identification card 8 ispositioned to the card detecting sensors 18 side, the turn table 11 andthe stopper 17 are descended for restarting driving of the transfer belt10 and driving of the transfer rollers 100 is started. The bucket 2 isagain terminated by the stopper 101, and upon rewriting contents of theidentification card 8 by the rewrite device 19 based on pieces ofprescription information, the bucket 2 is further transferred to thetransfer portion 5.

In the transfer portion 5, the elevating members 28 are descended andthe supporting arms 31 moved towards the direction-changing portion 3 soas to move the holding members 20 towards the transferred bucket 2. Atthis time, the motor for elevating movements is driven for releasing theopening/closing arm 32 for leaving the holding pieces 33 separated. Whenthe holding members 20 move to a position at which they are capable ofholding the bucket 2, the motor for elevating movements is driven forholding the bucket 2 from both sides by means of the holding pieces 33,and brim portions 6 on both sides are mounted on the holding pieces 33.At this time, the elevating members 28 are lifted and the supportingarms 31 are moved horizontally for moving the bucket 2 to a storage rack49 located on one end side of a topmost stage of the cart 4. At thistime, the bucket presence/absence detecting sensor 48 detects whether abucket 2 is stored in this storage rack 49 or not. When there is not,the bucket 2 is stored in this storage rack 49, and when there is, thebucket 2 is stored in an adjoining storage rack 49. The same operationsare repeated until storage to all storage racks 49 of the topmost stageis completed, and storage to lower storage racks 49 is sequentiallyperformed. In this manner, since buckets 2 are stored upon detectingthrough the bucket presence/absence detecting sensor 48 whether buckets2 are stored in the respective storage racks 49 of the cart 4 or not, itis possible to automatically select an empty storage rack 49 and performstorage. Accordingly, even if a stored bucket 2 is being delivered to apatient in advance for emergency purposes or the like during storageoperations of the buckets 3 into the cart 4, the next bucket 2 can beautomatically stored into the empty space so that all storage racks 49can be utilized without loss.

When performing storage of the buckets 2 to the storage racks 49, thesupporting arms 31 are moved such that the brim portion 6 of the buckets2 becomes higher than the lower edge portions 52 a of the guide grooves52 of the storage racks 49 as shown in FIG. 8A. Then, as shown in FIG.8B, the push-out members 43 are moved forward for pressing a rear wallof the bucket 2 to move the bucket 2 towards the cart 4 side. With thisarrangement, the brim portion 6 on the front end side of the bucket 2enters the storage rack 49 and the front end portion is positioned uponmoving across the projections 53 on the intrusion side. At this time,the motor for opening/closing movements 41 is driven for releasing theopening/closing arms 32. In the releasing operations of theopening/closing arm 32 as shown in FIG. 6, the guide rollers 35 on thelower side are slid from the vertical portions 37 a of the guidinggrooves 36 towards the sloped portions 37 b whereby the holding pieces33 descend while gradually separating. Accordingly, when the bucket 2 isreleased from the condition in which it is held by the holding pieces 33as shown in FIG. 8C, the front ends of the push-out members 43 engagethe brim portion 6 at the rear end side of the bucket 2 such that thebrim portion 6 on the front end side of the bucket 2 are mounted to thelower edge portions 52 a of the guiding grooves 52, and the bucket 2itself inclines in a condition in which its front end is dropping.Therefore, when the push-out members 43 are further moved forward, thebucket 2 will be smoothly stored within the storage rack 49 withoutinterfering the projections 53 as shown in FIG. 4A. Further, sincerelief concaves 54 are formed at positions opposing the projections 55,the bucket 2 will not interfere with the projections 55, either. Whenthe push-out members 43 are retracted upon completion of storage, it ispossible to position the bucket 2 within the storage rack 49 in a stablecondition by means of the projections 53, 55.

1-5. (canceled)
 6. A bucket transfer apparatus for transferring bucketsand storing them in respective storage racks of a cart, the devicecomprising: a holding means for holding the buckets, and a transfermeans for transferring the buckets held by the holding means to therespective storage racks of the cart, wherein the holding means includesopening/closing arms for closing while lifting to hold the bucket fromboth sides and opening while descending to release the bucket, andpush-out portions for pushing the bucket held by the opening/closingarms out in a horizontal direction, wherein when pushing the bucket outby the push-out portions, a rear wall of the bucket further downwardthan a brim portion on its rear end side is pushed, and when a front endof the bucket is located above a lower edge portion of the storage rackon an intrusion side, the opening/closing arms are opened whiledescending to move the bucket down while releasing the holding conditionof the bucket, whereby the buckets are stored from obliquely above withrespect to the storage racks.
 7. The bucket transfer apparatus asclaimed in claim 6, further comprising: an identification card attachedto an outer surface of the bucket, a turning means for turning thebucket, and reading means for reading the identification card of thebucket, wherein the turning means is driven and controlled so as toallow the identification card to be read by the reading means, and thebucket is transferred to the cart by the transfer means so that theidentification card is located on a same surface side.
 8. The buckettransfer apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the transfer meansincludes a bucket detecting means for detecting presence/absence of abucket in the storage rack, and the transfer means is driven andcontrolled based on a detection signal of the bucket detecting means totransfer the bucket to an empty storage rack.
 9. The bucket transferapparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the cart includes a fixingmeans for fixing the buckets stored in the storage rack, the devicecomprises a non-fixed condition detecting means for detecting anon-fixed condition by the fixing means, and the bucket is transferredby the transfer means based on the detection signal of the non-fixedcondition detecting means.